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LaVoy Finicum was shot and killed during the standoff at an Oregon Wildlife Refuge. Photo via YouTube.

By Steve Neavling Ticklethewire.com

The FBI agent charged with repeatedly lying to state and federal investigators about firing two shots at leading Oregon standoff protester Robert “LeVoy” Tinicum’s truck in 2016 will face trial after a judge refused to dismiss any of the criminal counts.

Attorneys for FBI Agent W. Joseph Astarita tried to get some of the charges dismissed, arguing the three counts of making a false statement and two counts of obstruction of justice are prejudicial and unnecessarily repetitive, the Oregonian reports.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones dismissed those claims, calling the defense motion premature.

The agent’s attorney, Meghan Ferguson, argued the indictment was an “impermissible five-count pileup” related to one alleged lie that should amount to no more than one charge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Sussman, a member of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, defended the charges, saying Astarita liked to three supervisory FBI agents and in two interviews with Oregon State Police detectives.

“Defendant told different lies at different times to three different FBI supervisors with different roles and responsibilities,” Sussman argued.

Law enforcement finally surrounded the remaining four occupants 41 days after armed militants took over the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve near Burns. The FBI and state police arrested several leaders of the occupation after 25 days.

But all of these pale in comparison with the time it took to apprehend Cliven Bundy. The father of Ammon and Ryan Bundy, two leaders of the Oregon occupation, he was arrested Wednesday night at the Portland airport when he arrived from Nevada. He had flown in to support the remaining group of four, three of whom surrendered shortly after he was taken into custody. For the FBI, the wait to arrest Bundy was longer: almost two years, since Bureau of Land Management agents who tried to remove his cattle from federal land where they were grazing without permits or fees were met by a huge group of armed men who turned them away.

Bundy had been illegally grazing his cattle on federal land for more than 20 years, and since 1998 was ordered by a court to remove his animals.

The FBI hasn’t said much about why it waited long.

“As we have said since day one, our goal has been to end this illegal occupation peacefully, and we are grateful that we were able to do so today,” FBI Special Agent Greg Bretzing said in a news release. “I want to make it very clear that we will continue to enforce the law with respect to the refuge and other federal properties. Anyone who chooses to travel to Oregon with the intent of engaging in illegal activity will be arrested. Saying that, I want to reassure those Harney County residents who simply visited the refuge or provided food to the occupiers—we are not looking into those events. We are concerned about those who have criminal, violent intent.”

As local law enforcement publicly handled the armed occupation of the federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, the FBI behind the scenes, running surveillance.

Agents confirmed that the participants were armed and prepared to die, the Los Angeles Times reports, citing allegations in an indictment.

A Harney County sheriff’s officer relayed that a source “had explosives, night vision goggles, and weapons and that if they didn’t get the fight they wanted out there they would bring the fight to town.”

Law enforcement shot and killed an activist, Robert “LaVoy Finicum, 55.

Eight others were arrested.

The FBI largely relied on media reports and activists who broadcast their intentions.

The leaders of the armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon were arrested, and the de facto spokesman was killed during a dramatic clash with local and federal authorities Tuesday night.

That’s what a Congressman from Oregon is asking about the standoff at a wildlife refuge in his state, The Hill reports.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, said the federal government needs to act more aggressively to arrest the armed protesters.

“Well, the lights and the heat are on the Malheur Wildlife Refuge illegally occupied by ultra right-wing, anti-government extremists,” DeFazio said on the House floor Wednesday. “But you gotta wonder if the lights are on or anybody’s home down at the Justice Department.”

The leader of the armed group occupying a federal building in Oregon said he believes the FBI plans to raid the property soon after obtaining five arrest warrants, Fox 6 News reports.

Ammon Bundy said he’s been told that the FBI is preparing a raid, which local and federal authorities would not confirm.

Local police and the FBI continue to say they are seeking a peaceful resolution.

The group is protesting the five-year prison sentences of two local ranchers who have since distanced themselves from the protest group.

“The FBI is working with the Harney County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,” the FBI’s Portland office said in a statement.